Editorials

Where are the trees?

Since California has had strict protections for keeping government open to the people. That’s why we were shocked to see that Gilroy’s Mayor Roland Velasco was giving his state of the city speech to an audience that paid $30 apiece at a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser to hear it last week, and with him were four other city council members.

Iceland, which had one of the worst epidemics of teen drinking and drug use 20 years ago, has had a huge turnaround, largely by using things we consider common sense.

The California Supreme Court last week put a sock in the argument that it’s OK for elected officials and government employees to keep citizens out of the loop by using private email and texting accounts to conduct the public’s business.

With all the money that’s spent in our county on flood prevention and control, it’s reasonable to expect that there would be some good plans to prevent a Katrina-style urban flood. Judging by what occurred to residents in neighborhoods to the north—in a modern city of a million people—it’s safe to conclude that local communities are not well prepared for large-scale natural disasters.

Water and life down the drain

I finally made it to Coyote Reservoir this past October, completing the circuit of Santa Clara County’s major water storage facilities. It’s a circuit I began many years ago.

Gavilan College is a gem for Gilroy and the surrounding counties and after hearing a report from new President Kathleen Rose we are encouraged with the way the school is growing in new courses, new buildings and a strong spirit of social justice.

Resolution #1

Don Christopher wears a crisp, dark shirt embroidered with a 60-year medallion over the pocket. It commemorates a proud achievement for a business, but dresses a walking portal to history with a encyclopedic recall, a window into an how the global agricultural revolution underwent transformation during the second half of the 20th Century, and in Don’s case, transformed a community.